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Carrie Pollitzer
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During the early nineteen hundreds, lived a young woman named Carrie Pollitzer. Her life in America was much different compared to present day. Women did not have much freedom to be independent and their accomplishments were based primarily on gender. A woman would go to college to meet a husband, stay at home with the children, and would have a hard time living a high standard of life if not marrying. Economically, businesses were run by the white man. Men owned the land and often had poor white women and African Americans working the farms. Industrially, the factories were owned by men and many women that were unwed would work in the factories. Politically, the white man ran the national and state government. They were the only American citizens who were allowed to vote. My study of the southern women has shown, culturally, there were many different ways of living and prospering in the south. One is the poor African American communities, in which the people did not have anything. Another was the rich white plantation owning families who only associated themselves with other rich upper class plantation owners. This was a time when the civil war was over and the African Americans were not slaves anymore, so new problems were arising for the South since there was no longer free labor. Many women wrote letters to communicate with their friends and family. Now that I have set a basis of the time period and have explained women did not have many rights, I will look into Carrie Pollitzer’s life and her struggles as well as accomplishments being a woman in the early nineteen hundreds. A time when feminism in America was as alien as space travel is in the eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. For example, 1913 was a time when people said a woman’s place was in the home and almost everyone believed it. Women did not work or go to college as much as men. In general men thought women were to stay home and take care of the daily house hold chores if money was not available for a nanny or maid. Most women had to depend on their husbands for money and a high standard of living. Men ran the government for the state and federal legislation. Their opinions were based on the writings of the English author Sir William Blackstone, who wrote, “The man and the wife is one, and he is the one.” This was the popular opinion of most white men living during the early nineteen hundreds. Soon women were to fight back and gain some independence and freedom to take part in America’s decisions on government. The number one campaign in women’s suffrage was the right to vote. In 1913 two Charleston women decided to rebel and join a newly formed party, which would later be known as the National Women’s Party. The two women’s names were Carrie and Mabel Pollitzer. Later their younger sister joined in the year 1916. Her name was Anita Pollitzer. The campaign of the National Women’s Party was to win the right to vote for women living in the United States and would change all three women’s lives. Carrie Pollitzer wrote many letters to her family and friends. Through her letters, I have been able to take a step back in time and experience what life may have been for her. She was born December 5, 1881 in Charleston, South Carolina. She was the daughter of Gustave M. Pollitzer and Mrs. Clara Guinzburg Pollitzer. Her father was the owner of the firm, G.M. Pollitzer & Company of Beaufort and Charleston. His company exported sea island cotton and cotton seed. His family was German Jews who emigrated from Vienna to New York before Gustav was born. He made his way to Charleston when he was age sixteen. Carrie’s mother was from Baltimore and was the daughter of a rabbi. Her family had emigrated from Prague in 1848. She taught German having graduated from Hunter College before she was married. Carrie had two younger sisters, Anita and Mabel Pollitzer. Anita, born October 31, 1894, was the youngest born and considered the smartest. She had learned how to read, write, and play the piano before she even entered school. She also graduated from Columbia University with a degree in art and education in 1916. Her middle sister, Mabel was very active and helped Carrie with women’s suffrage.
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